Pencils and Sunflower Seeds
by andrea16465
Summary: Skinner gives Mulder and Scully a new case and the agents admit their feelings for each other. Chapter 4 now up!
1. Pencils and Sunflower Seeds

**Disclaimer: X-Files characters do not belong to me, they belong to Chris Carter.**

"Mulder, stop!" Scully said, distracted because of his annoying habits. Well, not so much annoying as sexy… but she shouldn't go there.

"Stop what?" Mulder asked innocently, really not knowing what he did.

They were working on the paperwork for the case they just solved. A police officer went missing in a town where a cult supposedly was based. It had turned out to be a hoax, but there was still a lot of paperwork to be done on it. She had to admit though, most of the time, Mulder's theories made sense, and sometimes they were even right. She had realized a long time ago that she only resisted these theories because it was what she was used to. Even if she did believe, she had to give him another point of view to consider. It was her job, it was what he expected of her, and if nothing else, it was just plain fun. She loved to argue with him, to test his imagination and his intellectual skills.

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Mulder's question.

"Scully? Earth to Scully, please respond..." Mulder moved his hand up and down in front of her face.

"Hmm?" She asked, snapping back into reality.

"You kind of zoned out there. You asked me to stop doing something, but I don't even know what I was doing." Mulder looked at her curiously.

"Oh yeah," She suddenly remembered, "You were throwing pencils at the ceiling and eating sunflower seeds and it was distracting. Don't you have work to do? Skinner is expecting these reports in half an hour."

"I'm done. And why is it so annoying to you that I throw pencils and eat sunflower seeds?" He asked.

If he knew why, he would probably run away screaming sexual harassment. She thought that he was so cute when he was concentrating on making the pencils stick. It wasn't even what he was doing, it was how he looked while he was doing it. He squinted his eyes, tilted his chin up, and threw. It was such a simple thing, but she found it the most attractive thing he could do. Well, that and eat those damn sunflower seeds. She loved how his lower lip jutted out when he bit the seed. She loved the look on his face when the seed reached his taste buds. It looked like he was in heaven. She knew that it wasn't actually that cute, but to her, it was the hottest thing he could possibly do.

She had it bad. She was in love with her partner, Fox Mulder. Spooky Mulder. The guy that believed in little green men. Scully knew that she should be mortified, but ever since she admitted it to herself years ago, she felt totally at peace with herself. There was no more internal debate about his hotness or his theories, there was just peace. She realized that because there was no more debate, she worked better. She was able to accept his theories with less argument and she just worked better with him in general. So the answer to his question was that it was distracting because it was hot. Not like she would ever tell him that. She could only imagine how that conversation would go, "Hey Mulder, it's distracting because I think it's really hot. So could you please stop? I have a report to finish." Oh yeah, that would go over real well.

"Really? You think it's hot?" Mulder asked, eyebrows raised.

Scully's mouth dropped open. She had said that out loud! She was absolutely mortified.

"Scully, you're turning about five different shades of red. It's ok, I think it's really hot when you bite your bottom lip when you concentrate," Mulder said and then looked down, apparently engrossed in something important on his desk.

"Thanks Mulder," Scully said, and then started to finish her paperwork. Wow, that was weird. He thought she was hot when she did that. It was an unconscious habit, but she could understand why he thought that.

Half an hour later, Scully finished with the case report and printed it out, completely unaware of Mulder's eyes on her. The phone rang, its shrill tone startling them both. Mulder picked it up and put the receiver to his ear. Thirty seconds later, Mulder put the phone down and turned to Scully.

"Skinner wants the reports. He says he also has a new case for us." And with that, the flustered agents headed up to Skinner's office.

**Ok I need ideas, especially about the new case. I would also love a Beta reader with some experience in writing X-Files fanfic. It would be great if a potential beta still went to school so we might have the same schedule. School is gonna suck next week! Lots of pre-exam tests and stuff. I hope I'll get to update soon. I'll probably write more when I'm supposed to be listening to some boring Broadcasting performances.**


	2. Skinner's Office

**Thanks for all of the awesome reviews ad I would LOVE more. I am currently writing this from my Broadcasting class with a bunch of juniors, seniors, sophomores, and freshmen looking over my shoulder trying to figure out what kind of story I've written this time.**

Being in Skinner's office was a relief for both of the agents. They knew there could be no awkward moments here, no discussion of what had just happened. Skinner was one of the only people that Mulder and Scully both felt they could trust. What they didn't trust, however, was the room in which the meeting itself took place. They knew it was a good possibility that the room was bugged, just as they knew it was probable that their own office was bugged. In fact, the exchange they just made could be very dangerous for them if their enemies had been monitoring it. They were both afraid that their enemies would use their mutual attraction to each other against them, though neither of them would admit it.

"Agents, I have a new assignment for you. A man was shot today in Michigan. He is in critical condition at the moment and the only witnesses were his wife and next door neighbor."

"Excuse me, sir, but this isn't really our forte. We investigate the paranormal, not things that happen every day. No offense, Skinman but…"

"Agent Mulder, if you would please let me finish," Mulder looked sheepish, "According to both women, the assailant was invisible. They only saw the gun rise into the air, and then the bullet. The wife believes it was an invisible man, while the neighbor believes it was telekinesis. The man had no enemies, and no one would have had a reason to kill him. You tow leave tomorrow morning at 6:30 for Detroit, Michigan. I expect daily reports on this," he brandished his hand in the air to indicate that they were dismissed, "Oh, agents," his eye twitched, "Be careful, and don't call me Skinman."

The elevator ride to the basement was only slightly awkward. Mulder was deep in thought about the case, while Scully was thinking about what to pack and what the weather was in Michigan.

When they got to their destination, home of the FBI's most unwanted, Scully glanced at the clock. It read 5:08.

"Hey Scully, before we left, did Skinner… wink at us?" Mulder asked curiously.

"It looked like he had a nervous twitch or something, but we did warn him about the potential bug in his office, so maybe."

"I just realized something. I never really took the time to look at Skinner; I mean really look at Skinner. But I looked at him today and realized that the poor man is bald."

Scully shook her head.

He could be so dense sometimes. Of course the man was bald; he hadn't had hair since they first met him. How could you work with someone that long and not notice something so obvious?

She shook her head again.

She had to fall for him, the one man if the FBI that hadn't noticed Skinner was bald. The one man that was so oblivious to everything but his work. Everything including her affection for him.

"Hey, go home Mulder, I'll print off the case file and you can come over for dinner at seven," Mulder looked at her curiously, "So we can discuss the case," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Mulder wasn't sure what to make of her offer. Maybe she didn't want to talk about the case. But then again the office was bugged so… Maybe she wanted to turn their friendship into something more. He'd loved her for the longest time but he was afraid to admit it to her. What if she didn't love him back… but now he wasn't so sure. The exchange earlier gave him hope, but he didn't want to get too carried away, because what if she didn't love him?

"Ok, did the Gunmen make a sweep of your house this week?" He knew that was safe to say because if people were monitoring the office, they were probably the ones monitoring their houses too. They would know that the Gunmen made sweeps and regularly removed listening devices.

Mulder smirked, remembering Frohike's infatuation with her.

"Yeah, this morning. And I swear, if I find that weasel has gone through my drawers again, I'll steal your gun, shoot them, and then blame it on you," Mulder feigned a hurt look, "They are your friends after all. No… I'll take my gun and shoot you because I hold you directly responsible for what they do."

Mulder made a mental note to check with said weasel later to see what kind of panties she had been wearing lately. With that thought, he said goodbye and headed out the door.

**I was thinking about writing a sex scene sometime in the next few chapters. I was gonna draft it today but writing about sex in sex ed while I'm supposed to be reading chapter 18 (sexual intercourse and reproduction) but that didn't seem right. I am very upset that David Duchovny didn't win a Golden Globe last night because he definitely deserved at least one for his performance in Californication (the best show ever!!!) He is a very funny man. I love reviews and a beta is appreciated.**


	3. Internal Debating

**I felt like I should make the characters thoughts and feelings known in this chapter, but at the end I put some dialogue. I have a time table. I have to get this entire chapter done in one hour or my mom will yell at me for not doing my homework and ask me what I'm doing.**

As soon as she could no longer hear his footsteps in the corridor, Scully bolted for the computer to print the files. When it was done five minutes later, she grabbed her things and ran to the car. She decided to go to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for what was sure to be one of the best meals of her life.

She didn't know why she suddenly felt this way, like everything had just clicked into place. It wasn't even because of the conversation earlier. It was just a feeling that today was the day. She wasn't a naturally impulsive person, but today, something in her changed. In the past, she had never felt a need to change things between her and her gorgeous partner. Of course she wanted to, but she figured that Mulder would be uncomfortable. He had all those videos that weren't his, so why should he need anything else. She mentally told herself to stop before she talked herself out of it.

Scully knew this decision would change everything, but at the same time, nothing would be changed. They were already as close as lovers, so what would actually being lovers effect? What they did in their free time? How they worked and operated? The way they felt about each other? Or at least the way she felt about him? No way. Would it change their unconscious actions, like the hand on her lower back Mulder always guided her with? Probably. The only thing she really worried about was everyone else's reaction. Bill would be appalled, her mother would be thrilled, and everyone at work would just jeer at them even more. But did that really matter? Everyone already thought they were fucking so what harm did proving them right because of the little things do?

She realized she was getting way ahead of herself. Tonight wasn't even a date. They had dinner like this all the time. And what was the probability that he would even want to sleep with her? It was a two person activity after all. If he didn't want to… then there was no way, no matter how much she wanted it.

She soon looked up only to see the store parking lot.

The beautiful woman sped into the crowded store. She looked around at all of the couples shopping for groceries. She watched them… the way they talked, the way they walked, the way they held hands. She hoped that she would soon be one of those happy people. She took long strides until she got to the alcoholic section. She picked up a bottle of decently priced wine that she recognized and set it down in the cart that she didn't realize she taken. She grabbed a box of angel hair pasta, garlic bread, and all of the ingredients for her mother's favorite meat sauce, and candles. One of the few things Mulder didn't know about her was that she could cook. As a teen, she seriously considered being a chef when she grew up. Those dreams got replaced by ones of being a doctor when her favorite chef burned his left hand on national television. She watched in fascination as the emergency medics treated him right in front of millions of people. If that event hadn't happened, she probably would have soon realized that "Chef Scully" didn't sound right.

She marched up to the automatic check out and paid for all of the things she bought. On her way out, she was once again so deep in thought, she didn't notice that it wasn't an automatic door. She slammed into it, almost dropping her things everywhere. At that point, she told herself that she wouldn't do any more internal debating for a while.

***

Mulder rushed home and made a run straight for the shower. Something in her voice today made him think that today's dinner wasn't just going to be dinner. That thought alone made him aroused. He whipped his head back and forth trying to clear his mind of those kinds of thoughts.

As soon as he got out of the shower, he put on his best dark wash jeans and grey sweater. He knew that Scully liked this outfit because on several occasions, he had caught her staring at him. He put a hand through his already ruffled hair.

Tonight wasn't even a date! Why did he have to think it was? Maybe he was just imagining the change in her tone, in the way she walked, in the way she looked at him. No, there was no way he could have mistaken that look she gave him. She looked up at him from underneath her long lashes and smiled that seductive smile that made him crazy. That had to mean something, right?

He thought about the possibilities of tonight. If he hadn't been imagining it, this could be the best night of his life. If he had just imagined it, he would have to make the first move. An idea hit him as he was putting on his jacket. It wasn't idea as much as it was an impulse, but he acted on it anyway.

As soon as he could make himself ready, he got into his car and drove downtown.

***

She had already showered and was almost done making the meat sauce when there was a quiet knock on her door. She put the mixing spoon down and ran to answer it. When she opened the door, what she saw made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Can I come in?"

He was wearing that drop dead gorgeous leather jacket that highlighted his toned muscles perfectly. That alone made her knees weak. But that was nothing compared to what he had in his hand.

"Flowers? For me? They're so beautiful." They were a dozen bright red roses, her favorite. He handed them to her. She thought her hands may have been shaking, but she couldn't be sure. Was she overreacting to a few flowers? Hell yes, but he never brought her flowers. Never mind that it was a thoughtful gesture, she zoned in on what it might have meant.

"Yeah, I thought they might add a little variety to the room," he stated, looking down at his feet.

"Come on in, dinner is almost ready," she headed back into the kitchen, flowers in hand. She found a vase out of the cupboard, filled it with water, and put the roses in it.

"Smells good!" Mulder called from the living room where he had already made himself at home. His feet were on the coffee table and in his hands was the file she had printed two hours earlier. "I forgot, do you need any help?" She could almost hear him cringing at his rudeness. She didn't mind though. She had never had a man ask she if she needed help, so she inwardly praised him at his generosity.

"No… actually I'm done," she put the finishing touches on the meal and put it all on the table. "Let's eat."

**I am a real serendipitous kind of person. I love making jokes even if they aren't funny. I want to write a story where one of them walks in on the other doing something weird or funny and it turns awkward. Mom will be home in 5 minutes so I have to post this now or it will never be seen… Yeah, so cowriting or beta-ing would be nice. Gonna start new story soon. E-mail me if there are any mistakes that need correcting because I am dying to post this! Read and Review!**


	4. The Confession

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I started two new fics because I have the attention span of a flea. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this. Actually, I'm not really sure where I'm going with any of my stories. I just sit down at my computer and write without a draft or an outline and then print it out when I'm done. I wish I had the attention span to write one because maybe then I could update more often, but I guess I'm just too lazy. Please read and review!!!!**

"John Yalese was his name. He was married to Katie Yalese. Skinner said she believed it was an invisible man?" she snorted while looking at the case file spread out on the dining room table. "Although probably a better explanation than what Lilly Wayse thinks… that's the neighbor. She thinks that it was some kind of telekinesis. How ridiculous are these people? It's likely that one or both of them killed him." They were both eating with one hand and holding papers in the other. They both realized that before anything was going to happen, they needed to get their work out of the way first.

"Yeah, but if they did, why make up such a preposterous story? Why not say that they walked in and found him there? If they really did it, they would think of a better cover story than that."

"I still believe they are suspects. John worked at a manufacturing company. He had a desk job, a nice paycheck and he was a generally happy man. Never butted heads with anyone. His wife was a veterinarian, works a lot. According to her, they were a great couple. They never had any trouble. Skinner was right, there's no motive," she said, putting the file down.

"There's always a motive."

"Look at this. Lilly was having marital problems with her husband. She's never in the house, and he assumes she's just at work. What if she was having an affair with the victim?"

"It's worth a look. Great dinner by the way… here let me get your plate," he stood up and grabbed both of their dishes. As he put them in the sink they clanked loudly. Scully got up and moved to sit on the couch, Mulder following only a short distance behind her.

"So this means we're stumped?"

"Well tomorrow morning I was thinking we could question the women and scope out the crime scene. See if there's anything out of the ordinary there. And if we have time, we should go to his work, see what's up there," Mulder said thoughtfully.

"Mulder I've been thinking lately about something very important and I'm not sure how you are going to react when I tell you," she said. She was fidgety. Not only could she not sit still, but she hadn't thought about what she was going to say next.

There were only two things she could say next. One could be that she wanted a transfer and never wanted to see him again. If that was what she did want to talk about, he wouldn't blame her. His life, their life was erratic. They never slowed down, they were always active. As they traveled from one city to the next, she followed him without question, without moral reservation. Maybe she wanted to change that. Maybe she wanted to settle down and start a family.

The other option was she could want to take their relationship to the next level. They had been partners for so long that they trusted each other completely. They did say that friends made the best lovers. It could also be a cross between the two. She could want to settle down and have a family with him. He would gladly give up the X-files for a chance at an ordinary life with her. He just didn't know what she wanted. He didn't want to give up the X-files, but he would gladly if she asked him to because she wanted to raise a family with him.

"Scully, it's okay. I'm not going to judge you or be mad at you, whatever it is."

"Mulder, this could ruin our friendship. And I don't want anything to ruin our friendship."

"Seriously Scully, whatever it is, you'll still be my best friend."

"Okay, here goes nothing. I don't want to be partners anymore." His heart felt like it had been crushed into little tiny pieces. "I want to be so much more. I want to be partners, best friends, and eventually… lovers. I can't do it anymore, pretend I don't care about you the way I do. I can't pretend that if you leave me I'll be okay with it. I can't pretend anymore. If you don't want this, just say so now. I'll have my resignation on Skinner's desk as soon as we get back from Detroit."

She was hysterical by now. With her hands she tried to wipe away the tears that were freely falling from her face. He set one hand on her shaking shoulders and used the other to take her hands away from her face. He removed his hand from her shoulder. He used both of them to wipe away her tears for her. She looked up at him with wet, teary eyes waiting for him to say something.

"How could you even ask me if I want you as more than a partner? You are my best friend and my true love. I could never be with anyone else. You have no idea how amazing you are. You're brilliant, loyal, funny, and beautiful. I want this. I want this more than I've ever wanted anything I my life. I want this more than I want to find my sister, and I want this more than I want to find the aliens that took her," her eyes widened the last part.

She swallowed instinctively and looked in his hazel eyes. He wasn't lying to make her feel better. She saw emotions there that she had never seen on him before. Total and complete trust, honesty, and most surprisingly, love.

He cupped her face with his tender touch and tilted it upwards. He leaned down and captured her lips with his. His lips were warm on hers and her heart soared. It felt like he was unsure of himself, like he didn't know if she was going to pull away and break his heart. She set him straight by placing her and behind his head and running her fingers through his short brown hair. He pulled back slowly, opening his eyes. She smiled contentedly, and grabbed his hand.

"Enough drama for tonight. We should let this sink in and we can talk about it again on the plane tomorrow. Do you want to watch a movie?" she nodded. "Any preferences?"

"The Princess Bride."

He briefly left her side to get the movie and put it in the DVD player. He returned with a blanket and they snuggled up on the couch. Before the movie was half over, Scully had fallen asleep on Mulder's shoulder with the blanket draped over her. Mulder was still awake but slowly drifting off. Right then, he knew there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

***

The next morning, he awoke to the smell of strawberries. Scully's red hair was in his face. He looked sideways at her and grinned, the memories of last night coming back to him. She wanted to be more than partners with him. He checked his watch. 3:20. Assuming Scully wanted to shower before they left, they needed to get up now.

He kissed the top of her head lightly. "Scully…Scully…"

"Mmm."

"Scully, it's time to get up. It's 3:20 and I need to go home to shower and pick up some clothes."

"Oh right, the case," she said as she began to stir. She sat up fully, dragging a hand across her eyes and rubbing. She shifted her body weight so he could get off the couch.

She looked so cute in the morning. Her hair was tousled and she looked so natural. To him, it was one of the most wonderful things he would ever see.

"Listen, I'll be back at 4:30 and then we can leave. It takes an hour to get to the airport from here and I'll drive so you can sleep." She nodded as he grabbed his coat. He beckoned her over and put his arms around her in a hug. "You won't even notice I'm gone."

He walked out and closed the door quietly. She headed towards the bedroom and picked out the outfits she would pack. She got her suitcase from under the bed and started gathering everything else she needed. Once that was packed, she shed her clothes and walked into the bathroom. Her feet were cold walking on the tile. Scully turned on the shower and twisted the dial to hot. She sauntered out of the bathroom to grab her cell phone. She hastily called her mother's cell phone and left a message to let her know that she was going to Michigan. When she was done, she looked in the direction of the shower, she saw it steaming. She ran to it and got in before all the hot water was gone.

The shower was relaxing and just what she needed. Her muscles loosened up and she felt refreshed. She stepped out and wrapped the towel around herself. Soon after, she started drying her hair. At 4:15, she still wasn't done.

Mulder's car was parked outside Scully's apartment and he was fifteen minutes early. He walked into the building and knocked on her door. She didn't answer so he let himself in. He glanced around and didn't see her but heard the dryer going.

"Hey Scully. You all ready?"

"Almost. Do you mind going in my bedroom and getting my suitcase? I'm already packed."

"Sure." He sauntered into her room and found her suitcase. He grabbed the handle and pulled it out into the living room. He went back into her bedroom and opened her closet. He looked around and found the suit and matching shoes he was looking for. He laid it out on the bed for her and opened her sock drawer. He pulled out pantyhose and laid that out on the bed. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Scully earlier about her underwear drawer. He located the underwear and bra drawer and sifted through what was there. There was everything from lingerie to cotton panties. He chose a pair of skimpy black underwear and a matching bra. He heard the hairdryer stop and he hurriedly set it down and ran out of the room.

"Did you get it Mulder?"

"Yeah. You should hurry up and get dressed before we miss out flight."

"Okay. I'll be right… Mulder… did you go through my drawers?" she inquired suspiciously.

"You were running behind and I decided to pick out an outfit to speed you up," he said innocently.

"And that outfit happened to include some of the most revealing underwear and bras I have?"

"Yup. Wait, you just implied that you have something skimpier than that. Do you?"

"Ugh," she said as she threw the undergarments at him.

He sat down on the couch and waited for her to come out. When she did, he noticed he was wearing the suit he picked out for her.

"Are you happy now? I just picked out the sluttiest stuff in my drawer and am now wearing it."

"I'm ecstatic! Do I get to see it?" she shook her head, "Well then are you ready to go? Skinner will have our asses if we miss this flight."

They walked out to the car slowly. Scully and Mulder were holding hands and he was dragging her suitcase behind him. He popped the trunk and deposited the suitcase in there, then opened Scully's door for her. She slid in and he shut the door for her.

"Sleep," he said as he started the car.

While he was driving, he was thinking about everything that had happened. What were they now? Boyfriend and girlfriend? It just seemed so childish, like they were still teenagers. So they were… partners? The name hadn't even changed, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew that everything had changed. Absolutely everything. There could be no ditching her for tall, leggy brunettes or going off at night to investigate crime scenes. That's what being in love was and he wouldn't change it for the world. This 5'2 red head was the love of his life and he was going to treasure her forever.

"Scully, wake up. We're here."

They grabbed their suitcases and headed into the airport. They opted out of going through security Mulder just flashed his badge and airport security let them through. It was 6:15 which meant they had made it.

"Flight 646 to Detroit boarding now," the voice came out of the loudspeaker.

"Let's go," Mulder said, holding his hand out to her.

They quickly found their seats and sat down. Fifteen minutes later, the flight attendant came over the loudspeaker announcing that they were lifting off.

"Here we go," Scully said as they headed out for Detroit.

**What did ya think? I know, writing at one in the morning again. Bad Andrea! I'm thinking of doing a little bit more on the case in the next chapter. I still have to update History of a Different Time, but I think I'll do it tomorrow. My mom started digging through my stuff to find the paper copies I keep of all my stories. I have no idea what she was looking for, though it was probably the sex scene she saw me working on the other day. Whatever it was, she didn't find it, but it did give me a hint about how far she was willing to go to find out what I write. All I know is that the folder was not where I left it. PLEASE review!**


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